Dangerous
by Kibou32
Summary: Everything changes when Hiashi sells his eldest daughter to ANBU to prevent her being sealed with Caged Bird Seal. Hinata FemNaruto Shikamaru 3some romance. If you don't like it, so sue me! HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Dangerous

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: AU What if… Hiashi – knowing the troubles that laid ahead for his first daughter should she turn out to be unable to beat Neji when they become genin – decides to sell her off to an ANBU operative – not ROOT – and in the process changes things irrevocably?

A/N: Due to the reading of a good Shikamaru + Naruto story called "The Rubber band Odyssey" by antilogicgirl and a bit of another fanfiction in which Hinata turns out to be a damn good ninja.

Pairings: Hinata + FemNaruto + Shikamaru. (Because male Naruto with male Shikamaru is not something I think I'd probably be able to do the gay couple justice).

Warnings: Yes… the idea of Hinata and a girl Naruto is preposterous to those that are fans of that coupling, but what can I say… it rang in my head one time and it's been stuck in it ever since. So… mentions of threesomes with Naruto in the middle.

Part I

Hiashi withstood the glare of his Hokage – although a bit old to be doing this, he could still look intimidating to the younger male – and stayed steadfast in his decision. Having Hinata inducted into ANBU as a rookie – turning her into a little killer earlier than usual – at the tender age of five was a good thing disguised as a cruelty. Hyuuga children were taught much earlier than all the other children and sweet Hyuuga Hinata was the antithesis of what a Main House heir could be. And he wanted to spare Hinata the trouble of being marked with the Branch seal. Besides… he knew Hinata had potential. Potential that needed to be nurtured and cajoled into taking root in her and this took time he did not have, a heart he desperately tried to squash at the thought of sending his little girl away. But it was for the best. Under a different tutelage… Hinata would grow strong and beautiful. Under him and his damn family, the clan council, their hatred towards perceived weakness… she would suffer irreparably.

"Hiashi-sama… this bit of news is unsettling. As your Hokage I will tell you to reconsider, for the minute you sign these papers; Hyuuga Hinata will no longer be in your care." – The old Hokage said looking stern whilst inwardly sighing in deep regret over the child's wellbeing.

"It is what I want. Hokage-sama… I know you don't want a Hatake Kakashi in the making… but may I suggest… I know it's a bit cruel of me to abandon Hinata like this; but I think this is better in the long run."

"What is your suggestion Hiashi-sama?" – The Hokage said quietly not liking the feeling that was brought upon the look that he found in those blank eyes.

Hiashi looked uncertain for a minute as if to decide whether or not it'd be good or bad to do so, but he took his chances and rushed on after the Hokage gave the go ahead.

"I think Uzumaki _Harumi _should be inducted into ANBU too."

The Hokage looked angry for a second, but then reasoned that Hiashi used to be in pretty good terms with Yondaime Hokage. It was hard for the villagers to see that the Kyuubi vessel resembled the late Hokage. It wasn't so hard for a shrewd man like Hiashi to know who Uzumaki Naruto was really related to and why an kage-level illusion was needed to project to the world that the Yondaime's daughter was really a rambunctious hellion.

"I see… and what makes you think this would be a good idea. Why do you think that Harumi should go into ANBU too?"

"Even if the villagers and others that are too stupid to understand the precious jewel that we have in our possession is a treasure disguised as a pariah, once Harumi makes genin-hood; she'll be the target of some hard opponents. Opponents that once they make the right connections would not hesitate in harming her. If you get her settled in an environment with people who care, who treasure her and want to really teach her… if you saddle her next to a little girl who is in the same predicament she is… then she'll bond with her and through this little girl, she'll find a way to ground herself in Konoha."

The Sandaime Hokage reasoned the situation quietly. He understood what Hiashi was saying underneath it all. Train the little girl to get strong, show her how to care for others through companionship and she'll never betray Konoha. He nodded and watched as Hiashi signed the documents.

Promptly at one o'clock in the afternoon, Hyuuga Hinata took a walk with her father and never came back to Hyuuga compound.

:-:

Hinata learnt in those first three weeks that the training she was undergoing under the firm tutelage of Hyuuga Aimi – a member of the branch family – was something she needed. She was told that should she gain more of what Aimi thought were sound experience in what it meant to be a ninja, which was basically stamina, speed and smarts; she would meet her new roommate at the end of the month. Hinata was enthusiastic to say the least. Hinata thrived under the firm teachings of her taijutsu instructor, her tutor, everything. Only if she was able to meet the elusive blond girl who she caught sight of from afar, but never managed to meet.

She was told the blond girl was a little younger than her, almost five; but not quite. The girl that was coming to live with her had serious advantages over her, but that either way… they were about to become roommates and soon teammates in studies too. Hinata went on with her training. She hadn't really understood why her father had abandoned her to this branch family member – who ironically enough didn't have the bird caged seal – and left her on her own and estranged her from her little sibling and her cousin Neji. But she endured the training and decided that maybe it was for the best. Maybe her father didn't need her, but that didn't mean that somewhere out there; that sooner or later, she'd find the person who needed her the most and would cherish her the most out of anyone else in the world.

:-:_:-:

_Three years later…_

Hinata learnt earlier that day… jealousy. Her best friend in the whole wide world… Uzumaki Harumi had met Nara Shikamaru. The spontaneous blond had immediately gotten a hold of him and refused to let go. But Hinata was impervious at first. She refused to be thrown into a childish temper tantrum. And then Harumi had returned to Hinata after that and said…

"I want you to meet my new friend, Hinata."

Hinata knew then that she had not lost her best friend in the whole wide world yet. But she knew even as she knew that Harumi was a kind and caring individual that she shared the sentiment of that boy… things were about to turn up troublesome.

:-:

Shikamaru watched the Hyuuga girl talk to the Uzumaki boy and wondered about their relationship. It was only when they were about to learn how to swim that he noticed something strange. Naruto wasn't with them in the boy's locker room. He ran past the confused looks from his peers and back to the classroom to get the shock of his life. Naruto was with Hinata and for a second he thought the image of his new troublesome and energetic friend shimmered. He _thought _he saw the image of a girl wearing an orange one piece swimming suit instead of the orange swimming trousers. He thought he saw long blond hair tied into two ponytails at the side of the person's head instead of the short and spiky blond hair of his troublesome friend. And then he shook his head, muttered '_troublesome' _and went back to the boy's locker room.

Over the days continuing that episode, Shikamaru concentrated on his new troublesome and energetic friend with an intensity that did not go unnoticed by his Academy Teacher… recently turned chunnin Umino Iruka.

After the exams came summer vacation, so Iruka sat to talk about his findings about his students to the ever concerned Hokage. He then ended on the note that of all of his concerns… the topic that topped all necessity was – besides Uchiha Sasuke's sudden loss of his family and clan – how much concentration Shikamaru centered on Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto. The Hokage asked the young man before him what did he think of the relations between Naruto and Shikamaru. Iruka said that they were the worst pair of the class, for when Naruto wasn't goofing off; he was initiating fights with the homeless Uchiha Sasuke. They had the worst rivalry ever seen in mankind. Even worst was the fact that Shikamaru always agreed on whatever Naruto said to the Uchiha boy which made the rivalry between the two even worst.

Sandaime chuckled at that and decided he needed to pay a visit to the Nara's that evening. At least to be sure that young Shikamaru-kun wasn't being _too _weird.

:-:

The visit to the Nara household foretold a story that the Hokage hadn't thought of. Nara Shikamaru was as lazy as his father, but he was observant. And smart. When he asked to talk to the young boy alone only with his father to witness the conversation, he was sort of amazed to see the potential on the young boy. He was eight at the moment, but his observations and the conclusions coming from those observations were excruciatingly accurate.

He then told the boy he could run along and turned to the father.

"My son brought Uzumaki-_chan _to a sleepover the other day with the excuse to study for the finals. I noticed the amount of patience he had with _her_ and wondered. Yoshino doesn't like Uzumaki-_chan_, but Shikamaru was willing to stand up to his mother for his new friend. And he's gotten as motivated as of late… it's really astounding." – Shikaku said nonchalantly looking to the side.

"And what would you have me do, Shikaku-san?" – the Hokage asked shrewdly.

"With all due respect… I noticed that both the Hyuuga girl and Uzumaki-_chan _have good skills. They are quite advanced in the chakra department and Shikamaru is not. I would _suggest_ that in a year, Shikamaru be inducted into the same project that Hyuuga and Uzumaki are in."

The Hokage sighed and nodded in response. "It shall be done."

:-:

That summer, Shikamaru saw Naruto for what gender he really was. He had invited Naruto _and _Hinata along for a swim. Given the fact that they had to learn to blend in with their peers, the ANBU operatives that taught the two girls relented and let them have a _few _days off from training. Nine year old Hinata didn't get the chance to stop Shikamaru from completely finding out.

An enemy shinobi had entered the village unannounced. Hinata felt unsure and immediately began to search their surroundings for what she felt was wrong. Harumi also noticed that someone was decidedly making its way towards them, but even though they had been trained since they were four in being shinobi, they were still… at most high level genin. So they missed, the Mist ninja passed under their radar and tried to kidnap Hinata.

Shikamaru – who had never practiced his Kagemane at the most – quickly started the only ninja technique his father had taught him so far. So it was left to Harumi to go after the Mist ninja. But she was conflicted. They were three little wannabe ninja kids and the man was clearly a high level shinobi with experience. They needed back-up. Harumi attempted the forbidden technique that her – now gone on a long-term mission – teacher had taught her… kage-bunshin.

Shikamaru was shocked to see three clones being made by Harumi. One left to find help. The other two tried to help him – with the original – with the criminal in their midst. The elite ninja took advantage of the almost chakra-drained Harumi and got the girl – under the illusion of a boy – in the gut pushing her away. This sent her two clones puffing away into smoke that helped the ninja stowaway more than hindered him and dislodged the illusion on her.

Hinata – at this time was actively trying to think of a way to escape – but she knew that her only chance was to get her attacker in surprise. And the element of surprise is never a good position for her. That was more Harumi's element than hers. Nevertheless she activated her byakugan and looked at the man, found what she was looking for and gathered enough chakra to numb him. Went a bit overboard, but managed to get free in time to be 'rescued' by two chunnin and an elite jounin that went by the name of Mitarashi Anko.

:-:

Harumi had to be taken to the hospital. She was hurt and exhausted after such expenditure. Shikamaru was in some sort of a shock and seemed to not being able to get his eyes off the girl.

The Hokage sighed as he brought Nara Shikaku into the Hospital room that held Hinata, Harumi and Shikamaru. Then he decided right then and there to induct Shikamaru into the program one year earlier, if only to prevent the boy from taking matters into his own hands and revealing the truth about one Uzumaki Naruto.

:-:_:-:

_Five years later._

Shikamaru at thirteen thought all girls were troublesome, with the exception of his two friends Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Harumi. This was why he couldn't comprehend how one of his old childhood friends – Yamanaka Ino – could throw away a five year friendship with Haruno Sakura to pursue Uchiha Sasuke. It just baffled him. He sighed and also wondered about the girl that sat next to him looking tired and sleepy. Harumi was undergoing a different type of training lately. These days he saw less of her than he usually did. And he didn't like that. Hinata was as self-confident as always, but he could also see that if he didn't see Harumi as much as he used to then Hinata saw Harumi even less.

They were all learning different things this year. Just last year, Hinata got entered into the Intelligence and Interrogation sector of ANBU. He could see that she had flourished under the – _dubious_, because he really didn't like that woman _– _tutelage of Mitarashi Anko. And he had been told that as soon as they became genin, he was going into the Hunting and Capture division. But Harumi had begun her training into two different divisions at _once _since earlier this year and neither Shikamaru nor Hinata liked the strain it put on her. They also didn't know what the names of those divisions were which was due to the amount of secrecy and since in the eyes of all shinobi – even those in ANBU – they weren't shinobi yet until they graduated from the Academy, there was nothing they could do about the situation their friend was in.

In the meantime, due to the stress of being in two separate divisions in ANBU; school work for the ninja academy had been siphoned to her friend Hinata – whenever she could do her homework as well – and Shikamaru. But Harumi couldn't let them know. They'd probably be upset if she told them she was learning under two Sannin. One was the legendary medic Nin, Tsunade. And the other one was Jiraiya, with spy connections that went far and beyond.

Only because she had been at the wrong place at the wrong time! She likes the two old geezers, but they gave her hell!

Monday, Wednesday and Fridays were under the tutelage of the legendary Slug Sannin. She was being taught on speed, dodging, and medical ninjutsu. It was no wonder she was exhausted. She was smart, but she was also more of a… hands on learner rather than learning through books. She got bored easily and if her attention dawdled, the Slug Sannin beat her in a new one. So she was sore every single morning no matter how good and fast her system healed.

On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, she went under the tutelage of the Frog Hermit. He was perverted and sometimes scared her with his perverted comments, but so far she had learnt the most with him. The training almost seemed like playing games to her, but required cunning thought and if she didn't think before she acted, she'd get worse things than a beating. So the Gama Sannin was also a tough taskmaster.

And on Sundays, when she was _supposed _to be resting, she studied on what she had been given on the whole week. Which led to what – on the surface at least – turned up to be her worst mistake.

:-:

Mizuki had been eyeing the Kyuubi brat for awhile. The brat was smart, but not that smart and his grades had plummeted to the dead last position since early this year. So here was his chance. He would use the pretense of issuing an extra-credit make-up test and use the brat to steal the forbidden scroll, and then kill him before leaving the village.

What Mizuki didn't expect was to find – that night – in the darkness that the brat had caught on to the deception sooner than expected and had gotten the help of his two friends: Hyuuga Hinata and Nara Shikamaru. Then good old fashioned Iruka had come into the scene and he had almost managed to escape, if it hadn't been for the menace that was the brat.

:-:

"The way I see it, jiji. You have a choice." – Jiraiya said as he looked on to the village from his window post.

Tsunade looked angry but knew the gig was up. If she wanted to keep on teaching the girl… there was so much untapped potential it even made her really excited! Jiraiya looked at his ex-teammate carefully and sighed.

"What do you suggest Jiraiya?" – Sandaime Hokage asked as he looked at the proposed genin nominations for each of the teams.

"You keep those three on the same team and change the tutors." – He said with no ceremony whatsoever.

"Aburame Shino with Inuzuka Kiba is a good combination. If you put Inuzuka with Uchiha or worst with Akimichi, there will be trouble. It is best to combine the silent one with the over exuberant one." – Tsunade said settling more comfortably on the sofa at the Hokage's office.

"So who should be the jounin assigned to be the sensei of Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Harumi and Hyuuga Hinata in your opinion, Tsunade?" – The Hokage asked looking pensive but serious.

"Well… I think the Hatake brat would be a good leader." – She said looking serious.

"But what do we do about Sasuke?" – The Hokage asked worried. He was sure the counsel would not like that.

"Jiji… I have seen the brat and he seems unstable. To grant him a personal trainer with a developed sharingan is a risk and he may just turn traitor with the right incentive. If the council gives you a hard time for this… you should just say that Uchiha Sasuke could receive personal training for his sharingan if it develops and only when he makes the coveted chunnin post." – Jiraiya explained his ideas to the Hokage with impatience. Sandaime agreed at the thought.

"Very well… but who would take the kunoichi in each of the other two teams?"

"How about if you do this old man? Yuuhi Kurenai is an expert in genjutsu isn't she? She'd be good for Uchiha Sasuke because that would teach the little brat to respect his betters, she's a woman and that would show the little brat to not underestimate his female peers. As of the other one… it could be either Yamanaka Ino or Haruno Sakura. It could be better if you put Haruno in there though, since Yamanaka has a history of being a pushover."

"I will agree to these changes on two conditions." – the Sandaime said in a low tone of voice, and both Sannin stiffened knowing these two conditions were going to be a hassle to get out of.

"Name them." – Jiraiya said not liking the suspense.

"One: you both return to duty and to the village. Two: after the chunnin exams, either one of you will take my post. None of these conditions are negotiable."

Tsunade grimaced. She wasn't willing to do this. She still could not let go of the fact that Konoha had taken her precious people away from her, but agreed that if she wanted to keep close to the blond wonder, she had to make some allowances. And this would also help her with her assistance Shizune, who seemed to be losing her youth and had not married yet. The perfect exchange… Shizune deserved it. She _had _been loyal to her all these years, it was time Tsunade gave a little of it back to her apprentice.

Jiraiya didn't like the thought of returning to Konoha either, but he had less of any leeway Tsunade might have found in their old sensei. He would do so, but only because he owed it to the Yondaime to take care of his little daughter; and only due to that.

"Agreed. However… it would be better if no one outside this room knew about us for the time being, not until the chunnin examinations. I fear we may be entering war sooner than we thought." – Jiraiya said quietly,

Sasuke Sarutobi frowned and leaned back in to his chair.

"Do tell."


	2. Chapter 2

Dangerous

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: AU What if… Hiashi – knowing the troubles that laid ahead for his first daughter should she turn out to be unable to beat Neji when they become genin – decides to sell her off to an ANBU operative – not ROOT – and in the process changes things irrevocably?

A/N: Due to the reading of a good Shikamaru + Naruto story called "The Rubber band Odyssey" by antilogicgirl and a bit of another fanfiction in which Hinata turns out to be a damn good ninja.

Pairings: Hinata + FemNaruto + Shikamaru. (Because male Naruto with male Shikamaru is not something I think I'd probably be able to do the gay couple justice).

Warnings: Yes… the idea of Hinata and a girl Naruto is preposterous to those that are fans of that coupling, but what can I say… it rang in my head one time and it's been stuck in it ever since. So… mentions of threesomes with Naruto in the middle.

Part II

Shikamaru was relieved when that Monday morning at the academy, Umino Iruka pronounced the arrangement for the teams. They were sure they would have been placed as their grades indicated, which did not bode well since Harumi had fallen to the bottom of the class and Hinata had almost been named the Best Rookie of their year, only falling second to Uchiha Sasuke, whereas he himself had been on the dead center. His mother might have wanted him to be at the top of the class, but he didn't understand why. It wasn't in his nature to show off. It was useless.

Instead, their sensei told them that they were to be Team 7. Was he glad that he didn't end up with Ino or Sasuke? Damn right he was.

:-:

Waiting for their sensei was a trouble. Harumi was sleeping at the desk next to him and Hinata looked terribly bored. They had decided that Harumi needed a much needed rest and so deliberately let her sleep whilst they waited. When it was time for lunch, Shikamaru took his money and went to Harumi's favorite place and bought two plates for Hinata, three for Harumi and two for him.

They ate their meals quietly and when Harumi finished her third dish, Shikamaru let her go back to sleep.

"What do you think?" – He heard Hinata say.

"About what?" – He asked bored out of his wits. He wished he had brought something to read. Like maybe the book Inuzuka Hana had given him when it was confirmed he'd begin his specialized ANBU training after they met their sensei today.

"About Harumi. About the change in the placement of the teams… about everything so far? I don't know. All I know is that given what happened the night before… I'm exhausted." – He heard her say.

"Mendoo… if you mean about Harumi's disposition; we knew about that long ago." – Shikamaru said sighing, and then he stiffened. He looked at Hinata – who had already caught on to the fact that they were being watched.

They turned to look at Harumi to find her still asleep and sighed. She was really tired. They could not in good conscience let her know that they were being watched, or she'd end up doing something stupid. It was known between the three of them that Harumi was the most impulsive… but that for her – at least – unpredictability was an ability she handled well.

:-:

Outside of the classroom, Kakashi was surprised that they'd caught on to his spying twenty minutes after he had gotten there. Except… it looked like Uzumaki Harumi – for that was _her _real name – wasn't much of a good shinobi. But, Sandaime had asked him to be extra hard and to test them _today _instead of tomorrow. And so far, he wasn't sure if the girl was worth it. He wondered if perhaps, the Hokage was a bit biased on the Kyuubi holder.

"Yo!" – he said and was not pleasantly surprised to see a blond haired genin that went by the name of Uzumaki Harumi pressing him with a kunai in his gut. He had thought she was asleep!

"_Harumi_!" – came the unexpected shout of one Umino Iruka who had rushed into the room, and let it be said that Iruka had been expecting Kakashi for more than the time that the three newly graduated genin in the room had been waiting for the jounin.

Harumi raised cloudy blue eyes at Kakashi and he sweat-dropped when he realized that she had damn good '_paranoia_' situation awareness skills… even asleep.

"Maa… gomen ne. I just didn't recognize who you were."

Meanwhile Kakashi turned to see that the Hyuuga girl did not look queasy, but _did _look worried and a bit _dangerous_. He decided that he would have to proceed with extreme caution with her. In his mind, he could already see that these were not regular genin graduates.

:-:

"Well then… after all of this, how about we introduce ourselves to each other?" – Kakashi said considering how things had gone so far.

"Tch. We already know who each of us is, the question would be who are _you_?" – Shikamaru said looking extremely bored.

Kakashi took this to mean that he should never take Shikamaru at face value. He eye-smiled and said: "Humor me, why don't you? After all, I really don't know any of you, do I?"

There was utter silence. It seemed Harumi had gone back to sleep.

He found that they were not intimidated by him in the least. He sighed inwardly and said…

"Alright. I'll go first then. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't have many likes and even fewer dislikes, and my dreams and hopes for the future…" – He would have continued on with his charade if it hadn't been for – the supposedly _not _listening because she was _supposed _to be asleep – Harumi.

"Yamero." – She said without raising her head from the desk she was currently sleeping on.

"Hm? Whatever do you mean?" – He said trying to keep the charade up, but was denied again because the girl decided to stop it herself.

"We already acknowledge you're the weirdest person we'll ever meet. And that's saying something. Don't tell us what you like and what you dislike. We'll tell you that… easily enough. Don't tell us your hopes and dreams for the future, because we really don't need to know that. Just tell us your name and be done with it." – Harumi said and finally raised her tired face from the desk.

Hinata looked to the side blank faced, but Kakashi could tell she was really amused. Damn Hyuuga blank-faces.

"Maa… I've already told you my name." – He said agreeing to her and silently wondered what had he ever done to get a too cheeky brat in his own team.

There was silence as he looked from the corner of his eye at the boy and found that he was annoyed. Shikamaru was smirking softly. He had gotten beaten out of his own game. Damn it, these kids were too smart for their own good, or his sanity.

"Well then, Hatake-sensei… I'm Hyuuga Hinata, this is Nara Shikamaru and that one over there is Uzumaki Harumi. Let's move on to the genin test." – She said with a knowing smirk in her lavender eyes. Kakashi shivered inwardly.

"You know of the genin test?" – He asked hesitantly already knowing that she very well damn did.

"Of course we know! Genin are placed in three man teams under the command of a jounin teacher." – Harumi said softly and Kakashi wondered once again what had he done to deserve a group of geniuses that tested his own intelligence.

"Well then… I guess I'll have to take you to the training grounds for your exam."

:-:

Come the morning, the three little brats had defeated their jounin sensei Hatake Kakashi in the game of his own making. He _had _to test them and since he knew that testing them on something different than from what he had been expecting to test them on was an absurd idea; not only would it backfire on him tremendously, but they would know it _had _backfired on him and would silently mock him for it for the rest of _his_ life.

He trudged over to them and said… "Who told you of the bell test?" – Weary and tired of what they might say.

"I read it in the shinobi handbook version 1.2 printed during the first ninja war against Mist." – Harumi cheerfully piped up. He hated her even more now. There was no way – as tired as he was – that _she _was this perky at this very minute. After spending the whole night in constant trooping and fighting and defending, etc.

His other two genin weren't as perky as she was, but they tolerated her cheerfulness with amused dispositions as opposed to what he wanted to do… and that was to throttle her really bad.

"And where exactly did you get that?" – He asked somberly.

Hinata looked at him with cautious eyes and then sighed… "Sometimes she suffers from insomnia and the only thing that would get her back to sleep is reading old tomes." – she said wondering inwardly if she had said too much.

Kakashi only nodded.

"Tch. Can we go now? My family expects me sometime last night?" – Shikamaru said in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Shikamaru-kun! You owe me dinner!" – Harumi excitedly shouted as he turned to walk away.

"Tch. Tomorrow night I'll pay for your dinner, but we **WILL NOT **eat ramen." – He said as he was leaving, waving his hand good-bye as he walked away.

Harumi pouted but still waved good-bye excitedly to her teammate. She turned to Hinata and waited calmly for her friend to ask what she wanted to ask.

"When will we meet tomorrow? Hatake-sensei?"

Kakashi turned to look at his Hyuuga genin and sighed.

"Let's meet the day after tomorrow at noon." – He was about to poof out of the clearing when Harumi stood in front of him with a frown.

"You're being awfully vague." – She said.

"Vague?" – He asked feeling like there was a headache the size of a huge boulder working up to his head.

"Yup! Today is tomorrow. The sun hasn't come up yet, so… in how many days should we see you?" – She piped up with a confused look at his one grey eye.

Kakashi stared at her.

"Come on Harumi. He means the day after today. So we have a whole day to ourselves. Sayonara, Hatake-sensei." – And then Hinata grabbed Harumi's hand in hers and turned away from him.

He was still staring at where they had gone, by the time they had disappeared from eagle's eye view and groaned in despair.

:-:

He was reading. He wasn't reading his Icha icha Paradise book, but a different one at that. He was reading the huge thick tome that Harumi had spoken about. And so far he hadn't managed to find the word-by-word explanation that she said the book had on the issue of genin teams. There was an explanation and an underneath-the-underneath summary on that subject, but it was far more complicated than the usual textbook at the Academy. He blinked twice and blew a raspberry. He decided to go see the Sandaime about this.

:-:

When he managed an audience with the Hokage, he was relegated to wait until Yuuhi Kurenai finished her debriefing on Team 8. He was seriously considering blackmailing the woman to switch teams with him. Those three were on a level that scared the wits out of him. But his pride… he had an ongoing bet with Gai and he really didn't like to lose, so… he was shot out of luck. Bummer.

When the woman – _finally _– came out of the Hokage's office, he could see she was at the end of her patience. She saw him and he saw her and they nodded to each other. They would talk about their teams… if only because they needed someone to help them out!

:-:

"So tell me Kakashi, what do you think about your new team?" – Sandaime Hokage asked. He looked terribly tired but also incredibly amused at the way things were going.

"Hokage-sama… I wish to know what their capabilities are. There isn't anything – _forgive my manners _– worth shit in the academy records!" – He said in a nonchalant tone, but it was obvious he was ready to hang himself right about now.

"I was aware of this Kakashi. But I _did_ warn you not to underestimate them." – said the Hokage whilst puffing up his pipe with tobacco.

"…" – to that Kakashi had nothing to say. Someone up there was really screwing with his patience.

"Take a look at this." – Sarutobi Sasuke said as he shoved a thick manila folder towards the young man in front of him.

Kakashi picked it up with relish. _Finally. _He was about to find about those little sh- eh brats.

Half way through the folder, Kakashi began to read more carefully each and every single word.

"I wasn't aware we were breeding new little soldiers." – He drawled a bit crossed that he hadn't known.

"We aren't. Those three are a special case. It all started with Hinata, you see. And then Harumi was tagged along… although others could argue that it started with Harumi _first _and Hinata was just a casualty of her clan's hideous traditions or _rather _the result of trying to evade that particular _fate_. Now Shikamaru-kun came about three years later. But – the circumstances aren't that far out as you would think."

"So they're ANBU trained rookies. Why have they graduated _now_ instead of before?" – He flatly asked looking terribly unamused. He always prided in his information network and he hadn't heard of anything like that so far.

"The law states that children have to have gone through the Academy _first __**and **_graduate at the age of twelve to thirteen. If I wanted to keep them out of Danzo's grasp, I had to do it this way. Due to that law… it has turned up for the best. Harumi can now be herself instead of pretending to be a boy. Hinata cares deeply for Harumi and isn't thinking on turning traitor to her kinsmen, and Shikamaru is a much roundabout shinobi than any Nara in his clan." – He said as if this was exactly what he had prepared for.

Kakashi – _privately _– thought that the old Hokage was speaking bull. But he wasn't really about to say it out loud.

"So… what exactly am I supposed to teach these three? They know how to be a team. They all have their private tutors. What can I do with them?" – He asked.

"Well… I'd like for you to teach them humanity. Just so you know… Kakashi-kun… even if they participate in the chunnin exams and all three become chunnin, they're still going to be your team. In fact, you're pretty much **stuck **with them until you either i.e retire from being a ninja or die in the battlefield." "Dismissed."

Kakashi was _so _fucked. He didn't like the fact that the Sandaime was keeping him with those three. Sooner or later they'd become not his minions but also his teammates! And how in the devil was he to teach them humanity when he lacked that too?!

:-:_:-:

Kurenai was sure she had never met a boy _so _annoying as Uchiha Sasuke in her whole life. Even when he had lost in a fight with her one on one doing the dreaded bell test… she _wasn't _about to pass him and the rest of the team if they did not act like a team. And the boy was still arrogant and annoying. She wasn't sure what she could do to make him change his mind and act a little less like a robot and a lot more like a _normal _thirteen year old boy. She would have to train with Kakashi so that if the boy ever manifested his sharingan, she wouldn't be cuckolded into agreeing to extra training time due to it. She was a jounin damn it and a genin wanna be like him wasn't going to win against her.

She waited at the local dango place for Kakashi fearing the man was going to be late to this too and was pleasantly surprised to see him come right at the minute to sit in front of her at her table.

"Bad team?" – She asked hesitant to really find out.

"I suppose the Uchiha brat has you seething." – He said in exchange.

"I'm going to have to ask you to train with me." – She said hesitant to show weakness to him but was shocked to hear him say the same.

"Ditto."

They were quiet for a minute before she stopped feeling angry at the little brat and began to wonder why the man before her was looking downright miserable.

"So… team 7?" – She prompted.

"Hyuuga Hinata. I thought she was as meek and nice as the Academy's psychologist had mentioned in his report of her two years prior… wrong. Nara Shikamaru. The reviews said that he was as lazy as Nara men come. Wrong. Uzumaki Naruto – a.k.a. Uzumaki Harumi, _girl_ – dead last according to the GPA recorded in Umino Iruka's attendance record. Wrong."

Kurenai low whistled. She was impressed. This was the _very _first time she had heard of a team made of two genin girls and one genin boy. And all the valuable information given by the Academy was all conjectures at this point… Kakashi had a _really _bad bunch.

"Can they work together?"

"Can they _work together? _Damn right they can. They're like a well oiled machine. Coordinated. Only old teams that have been together for more than a year and a half are that good. No. The question wouldn't be if they could work together." – He said getting it all out in one rush, although Kurenai understood that he was just frustrated and not trying to get it all out on her.

"So if they're actually this good… what are you supposed to teach them?" – She asked.

"I don't know. And_ that _is the question."

:-:

Tsunade was delighted to hear Hatake Kakashi so upset. But now… she was sure the girl was having too much on her plate. She had drawn straws with her ex-teammate and won – for the first time ever! – the right to teach her on her own for now. She decided to keep the days intact, if only to keep the girl from being too exhausted to work properly with her team.

Oh she was going to have so much fun!

:-:

That afternoon Kakashi arrived in to the training grounds early. He decided to do a two week intensive training spree with his new team before conducting them over to do C-level missions. D-level were too idiotic for them to do since they already had teamwork down to a science and it might give them too many ideas to start playing pranks on him in retribution for the numbskull D-level missions genin were assign to do or they could try and kill him to get higher missions instead, which he didn't want. Three bloodthirsty genin with the experience of ANBU rookies was a scary thought to him.

So he arrived there bright and early to find that he wasn't going to surprise his team so much. He walked slowly towards them not wanting to actually surprise them, but knowing it was futile to get fun out of his genin's shock.

"… Mendoo. I'm _telling _you it doesn't work that way." – He heard Shikamaru say with a bored drawl.

"But… I'm trying to do it and haven't found a shortcut to it yet." – Harumi said pouting.

"Harumi… didn't your sensei tell you that medical ninjutsu didn't have shortcuts?" – Hinata said quietly.

"Yeah. She did. But… so far my shortcuts have shown me _how _to get the best out of the usual procedures. I've been reading the books and all… but still!" – And then Kakashi was greeted by her blue eyes and he eye-smiled at her.

"Yo!"

"Aren't you a bit too early, sensei?" – Shikamaru asked suspiciously not in the least surprised to see him, which bothered Kakashi a bit if he were forced to admit it. Shikamaru had sensed him coming long before Kakashi had ever arrived at the clearing.

"Well… I came in early to tell you we aren't going to be doing any D-level missions at all." – He expected them to be pleasantly surprised but was greeted by wary looks from all three of his wonderful and cute little genins.

"Why not?" – Harumi asked with a pout.

"Well… a little bird told me your current skills… I've decided to get you ready for C-level missions for the next two weeks."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at him. Hinata did so too.

He eye-smiled at them once again, content that for once he had thrown them out of the loop so to speak.

"Now then… we're learning today… tree-walking."

He concentrated his chakra to his feet and walked up a tree vertically instead of climbing it with his hands. He reached a tall branch and turned down only to discover that they had disappeared. He almost shouted in shock when a blond haired girl grinned at him from a tree branch above his.

"Yo!"

He frowned under his mask.

"Not to burst your bubble, Hatake-sensei… but we already know tree-walking." – Hinata said from a tree two feet away from the tree he was standing at.

"And water walking." – Shikamaru added from a branch higher than where Hinata was at.

"And silent walking." – Harumi piped up.

"And other chakra related exercises as well." – Hinata said to him.

He cursed under his breath.

"Well then. We'll have to train you to perfection on them." – He said smirking evilly under his mask. They would pay for underestimating him.

In the end, it was he who paid for they had bigger chakra reserves than he did, amazing as it were to hear that and acknowledge it, or at least for having larger stamina than he. He wasn't sure which was which. Shikamaru had a higher chakra control than other normal male genin had once they got fresh out of the academy. Hinata had a higher chakra reserve than all her other kunoichi peers and Harumi had both at her advantage, although her stamina surpassed her teammates by a proportion of 50 to 1.

So what to teach them? Perhaps it was time to see if they had training in elemental chakra. He was sure – although not 100% sure – that since Hinata was of the Hyuuga clan, her element would be non-existent for Hyuuga did not have that sort of thing, or at least he had never heard any case that represented that. And Shikamaru had a thing with shadows that maybe he wouldn't be able to use an element at all.

It didn't turn out to be as he expected. Hinata had an affinity to both fire and water, although her control over the two of them was at 25% and she had said this with a frown on her face. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact that she even had control over her elemental chakra at 25% instead of the usual 0% that any rookie would have. Shikamaru couldn't use elemental chakra well, but he did have a 5% affinity to water and he said he could use it if he fully concentrated on it, but he said it was too troublesome for him, so he'd be thinking he'd be using B-level container scrolls to use either of the elements if he so needed to. His expectancy of this was higher than usual. Kakashi was rather proud he wasn't so completely wrong in this.

But the biggest shocker of all was Harumi. She had an affinity with three elements: wind, fire and water. Wind, because of her uncontrollable nature and her true heritage with the Yondaime; Fire due to the bakemono inside the seal – which she was completely aware of _before _the Mizuki incident not even a week prior – and water because earth was a too hard element for her to control and she had also practiced this affinity due to her previous training with one of the Sannin. This she didn't tell him immediately, although Kakashi had deduced it from the records in ANBU.

Kakashi bent his head and prayed.


	3. Chapter 3

Dangerous

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: AU What if… Hiashi – knowing the troubles that laid ahead for his first daughter should she turn out to be unable to beat Neji when they become genin – decides to sell her off to an ANBU operative – not ROOT – and in the process changes things irrevocably?

A/N: Due to the reading of a good Shikamaru + Naruto story called "The Rubber band Odyssey" by antilogicgirl and a bit of another fanfiction in which Hinata turns out to be a damn good ninja.

Pairings: Hinata + FemNaruto + Shikamaru. (Because male Naruto with male Shikamaru is not something I think I'd probably be able to do the gay couple justice).

Warnings: Yes… the idea of Hinata and a girl Naruto is preposterous to those that are fans of that coupling, but what can I say… it rang in my head one time and it's been stuck in it ever since. So… mentions of threesomes with Naruto in the middle.

Part III

Team 7 met Team 8 on a Friday afternoon. Uchiha Sasuke was mind-boggled to find that his biggest rival – or who he considered his biggest rival to be even if they had never bashed heads in the Academy – had _two_ girls in his team. Uzumaki Naruto had deceived them all. In fact, Uzumaki Naruto didn't even exist! Uzumaki Harumi, however; was the kind of girl who he was beginning to think he might _like _to get to know further. The heated glare Hyuuga Hinata gave him made him shiver imperceptibly, though. Shikamaru might have not said or done anything to convey otherwise, but Sasuke found that if he had not had a rival before, he had one _now._

Haruno Sakura looked ready to bawl. Her Sasuke-kun _had __**never **_looked at any girl like he was looking at the cross-dresser Uzumaki Harumi now.

Chouji was just happy to see his long time friend. They hadn't had the time to sit down and relax, but he hoped that he'd be able to do so sometime soon.

Kurenai seemed impervious of her team's reactions towards team 7, but inside she was in glee. At last, something to work with. She was beginning to think they were a dead bunch and only now was she able to see something.

"Where are you going Kakashi-san?" – She asked smiling a bit.

He eye-smiled at her and said: "We're going for dinner. And you?" – He said whilst he looked at her woeful genin team carefully.

"Huh. So were we. Can we join you?" – She asked.

"Certainly." – He said with a happy eye – smile.

Shikamaru huffed at his side. Both Hinata and Shikamaru didn't like where this was going. Harumi – as usual – was oblivious to this.

:-:

Harumi ended up sitting next to Kurenai on one side and Kakashi in the other. She was sure there was something weird going on. Hinata was really annoyed. She could tell because Hinata was grinning pleasantly at the others, especially towards Uchiha Sasuke. She wasn't as naïve as she seemed to look and sighed inwardly as to the reason why her best friend was so infuriated with the other orphan. They _had _bashed heads with Sasuke before, but now Harumi wondered why he was even remotely interested in her. She had been sure Sasuke was gay for all he never paid attention to any of his fan girls.

She was not exotic or girlish or even remotely cute. She was harsh and totally unlike the regular beauties that surrounded him. Hinata deemed to think otherwise. Shikamaru had said once that she had charisma; something that many of those fan girls lacked.

She blew a raspberry and tried to eat her meal daintily.

:-:

Hinata didn't like anyone like Uchiha Sasuke taking a liking to Harumi. More so due to the fact that once she had gotten to her thirteenth birthday, she had found that she loved Harumi. She loved her friend more than a friend would love another friend. She wasn't infatuated as Sakura seemed to be of Sasuke. But she was really in-love with her best friend. She recognized however that Harumi was oblivious of that. Not because she was terribly naïve as others seemed to think she was, but more because during those four years that she had spent at the orphanage, she was convinced that she wasn't very lovable. And so far, neither she nor Shikamaru had been able to convince her otherwise.

Shikamaru on the other hand… Hinata knew that Shikamaru had begun to like Harumi more than the usual and at first – like that first time when Harumi had met Shikamaru (and by proxy Chouji) – she had been bothered by it. But now, she saw that Shikamaru wasn't likely to throw her away if he managed to woo Harumi to his side now. And she knew he wouldn't mind sharing Harumi with her. As long as both of them were clear that Harumi liked them both with equal fervor and that there wasn't to be a favorite in between them, and then she wasn't likely to fight Shikamaru for Harumi's love.

:-:

Well… was that an eye opener. Kakashi thought as he made his way home. Harumi was the princess in his team. He could see it now. Hinata was the leader by default, but only Harumi got to decide in the end. Shikamaru was the one who gave advice and he was always ready to do so whenever Harumi had a problem she couldn't work out on her own. They both helped her so much. But if there were ever to be an outsider trying to claim their friend for themselves… they would fight to the bloody end and win. Both Hinata and Shikamaru were in love with Harumi, both were aware they were important to Harumi, but neither was willing to fight the other for the girl. Both knew that to do so would break Harumi's heart and neither seemed to want that. They were both content to share the girl between them two, but only between them two. Oh there might be a close friend of each, but romantically Harumi was off-limits to others that weren't them.

It was tragic and so very morbid. This wasn't any puppy love. This was an adult kind of love, with all its traps and bloody issues. He knew now what to do.

:-:

He discovered as they completed the seventh day of training that it wasn't easy to break their mentality. He wanted them to have independent thought. He didn't want them to think that without Harumi they were nothing. He didn't want Harumi becoming the queen and owner of their hearts. So after the fifth lost attempt at getting them to do things on their own, he sighed and told them to regroup.

"This exercise is not a group effort." – He said.

Hinata and Shikamaru frowned at him. Harumi looked obviously lost.

"Well? Can you see what you're doing wrong?"

Hinata looked at him for a second before huffing away and saying… "You don't seem to understand the situation, sensei. We know what you want; it's just that you're the one who seems not to get it."

Harumi looked confused. Kakashi palmed his hair and decided to send Harumi out of the training grounds to get them some lunch.

"Harumi-chan… can you go get us lunch. Ramen is fine." – She was happy about it and took his money with glee.

"You've done it now sensei." – Shikamaru said looking a little annoyed at the jounin's request. They all watched her run away from them looking quite happy about the job of fetching them lunch.

"Ok. No more lies now. I'm aware you seem to think Harumi-chan belongs to you."

Horrified gazes met his blank but stern face.

"Kami! Are you mad?! Harumi-chan isn't an object of lust to us. We're thirteen for heaven's sake!" – Shikamaru cried out feeling terribly grossed out.

"We're friends! Harumi-chan is important to the both of us." – Hinata exclaimed also feeling horrified that their sensei was saying thus.

"And yes, of course that is why you protect her from making her own decisions." – He stated flatly looking unimpressed with them.

Hinata looked pensive for a second.

"We're not protecting her in that sense. It is true that Harumi is our most precious person. We came to the conclusion long ago that we weren't ready for rejection." – Hinata said and stopped for a second trying to think of a better way to explain it to their sensei.

"What Hinata is trying to say is that we're conscious that Harumi one day _could _fall in love with someone else, rather than us. We aren't ready for that, but if she chose to love someone else, we wouldn't hesitate to support her in that decision. It'd be her decision and it's not like we'd die if she weren't there. We are individuals and we have our own lives as does she. But should she _choose_ us, we wouldn't fight between ourselves to be her one and only. We're willing to share her because we know that she wouldn't want to choose one over the other." – Shikamaru stated calmly.

Kakashi was bowled over as to how reasonable the boy sounded.

"So should she want to go on a date with Uchiha Sasuke, you would support her? 100%?" – He asked suspicious of their reasonable behavior.

Hinata pursed her lips together for a minute and then said: "We don't like Sasuke-san. It's no secret we don't like him. But even if – as unlikely as it sounds – Harumi suddenly decided to go on a date with him, we wouldn't stand in her way."

Kakashi was silent for a second. He narrowed his eye at them and he was amazed that they calmly looked back at him.

"This new exercise – once Harumi returns and after we eat lunch – is called 'it'. Your objective is to capture me and Harumi before the night comes. If you win, you get to decide what I teach you tomorrow. If you lose, prepare for the consequences."

:-:

Hinata and Shikamaru lost. Not because they didn't give it their damn best. But because Harumi gave it her most damn best. Kakashi decided to give her the odd day off. She was a bit saddened by the fact that the rest of the team would be punished for loosing, but Kakashi asked her – _kindly – _to not come for lunch the next day.

Given the fact it was Tuesday, she found that she didn't have much to do all day. She went to the ANBU headquarters to see Inuzuka Hana about something she had been thinking about lately. She was unhappy she hadn't been able to find her. But she _did _find a man that resembled a mummy from the way he was covered almost completely in bandages. She called him 'the mummy man' in her head and smiled secretly at the nickname.

"Ah… you must be Yondaime's legacy… so Sarutobi, that scoundrel actually had you trained." – He murmured under his breath. Harumi cocked her head to the side looking more like a curious puppy than the hardened ANBU rookie that she was.

They looked at each other, sizing the other looking for weaknesses and the like. Danzo smiled creepily and Harumi grinned as they reached an impasse.

"Do you want to train with me, little girl?" – He asked.

She looked befuddled for a moment and then said…

"Sure, why not? But just this once. You seem to know me, however; and I am afraid I do not know you." – She said with a chirp in her voice.

Danzo smiled again and said… "When you've won against me in battle, little girl; then I will tell you my name."

Harumi looked excited for some reason Danzo couldn't fathom.

:-:

By the time the _little_ _girl _was finished wiping the floor with his old bones, Danzo was almost _almost _half dead. Medics that were partly of the Root section rushed to tend to him, but Danzo were still smiling, which was creepy as hell. When the Hokage heard of the fight, he went to visit the other old geezer and was amused that the elderly warmonger of Danzo had fallen into a coma to _heal_. Even if he didn't really like the fact that Harumi had met Danzo, he was kind of glad this had been the outcome of their meeting. Political niceties after that was the sort that Sarutobi Sasuke was glad that he could use to his favor in this case.

He chuckled as he left the hospital.

:-:_:-:

When the two weeks training spree ended, Shikamaru expected to be told that they'd be doing D-level missions anyway. He'd been almost sort of glad to do the normal for once, but once he saw Kakashi's hidden evil grin, Shikamaru groaned inwardly. Harumi – on the other hand was jumping up and down eagerly. Hinata seemed even more bored than usual with the case and he could understand why she was like that.

During ANBU training, _he _had been taken along for a mission or two… assassination, pursue and capture, spy, etc. He knew the drill pretty well. So he wondered why his other teammate was so eager to leave the village for a C-ranked mission.

:-:

Kakashi looked tired. Shikamaru and Hinata were limping a little and only Harumi was the ever radiant ball of sunshine that was still looking so cheerful. Umino Iruka was disgruntled at the image.

"Mission completed. We're looking in to going to the hospital to take care of our small injuries and then we'll report in two days for another mission." – Kakashi muttered and then turned to his genin and directed them to the door.

Iruka watched as Kakashi and both Hinata and Shikamaru walked away from the mission's room… slowly but surely. He blinked and wondered about it and then blinked again when he saw Harumi was still there looking cheerfull and attentive.

"Yes?" – He asked if only to see what she could want.

"I want to see Hokage-jiji."

Trying to tell her that she was being disrespectful was moot point so he sighed.

"Let me check with his secretary, ok?"

"Un!" – And then she went back to looking at him expectantly.

Iruka smiled a bit and then turned away from her towards the Hokage's office whilst reading Kakashi's steady scrawl and cursed at the fact that he'd have to retype it to make sure others would be able to read it when it was decoded and seen to before being filed away—and then he almost shouted in shock…

"………the mission soon dissolved into an A-rank after being ambushed by Iwa ninja on the border of Fire Country and Rock Country. ………" – and then he was running towards the Hokage's office, not stopping to ask if the Hokage was busy or not and rushed into the room.

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

:-:

When Harumi finally made it into the Hokage's office, she was prepared to talk about her jounin commander's insufficient report, but also had something else in mind that she wanted to talk to the Hokage about. Sarutobi Sasuke only looked at her once, sighed and told her to report about the mission. She rattled off all the details she had pertained and went on to add her small observations about what had happened. She looked bored about the whole subject so that when he had listened to everything she wanted to say about that, he said…

"Well then. What was it that you needed to talk to me about?"

"Um… the mummy man said I was Yondaime Hokage's legacy."

"That is correct Harumi-chan."

"But the Iwa-ninja who interrupted us on our way back from the mission said something about the likeness of my features to Namikaze Minato and the other ninja said the 'Yellow Flash' is back… so…"

Sarutobi could sense this was going to be a headache to explain and was pleasantly shocked – although not by much when Jiraiya poofed into the office and said…

"You want to know about that kiddo?" – He asked, his eyes portraying it was going to be a long story, but Harumi was unperturbed by it.

"Un!"

"Very well… I'd have wanted to let you know until you were older… but now is as good time as any."

:-:_:-:

After talking to the medics and everything they were left go to sleep in their own beds. Hinata didn't see Harumi that night or the next day. Kakashi was absurdly correct that they both – Shikamaru and her – needed more training it seemed and had basically slaughtered them that supposedly 'day off'.

When it turned dusk, and only then; Kakashi released them to rest and said they'd meet in the Mission room to take another C-level mission. Hinata was so hurt, she had to lean on Shikamaru until she reached the fork in the road that took them in different routes to their own precious beds. As she sat on her bed, tending to her slowly healing burns due to the mission that occurred not even two days ago, Hinata saw Harumi return looking lost in thought. She was so tired… who had ever heard that Hatake Kakashi was this hard a taskmaster?! So she was tired and she wasn't quite up to chatting with the blond girl now, so she silently bid her friend goodnight and went to sleep.

Around one in the morning, Hinata felt warmth on her side. She instinctively flinched, for that had been where Shikamaru's shadow had gotten her quite bad and then sighed in relief when she acknowledged what it was that was soothing the pain away. She opened her eyes a bit and was more than a bit shocked to find who she would thank for this small gesture.

"Harumi-chan?" – She whispered softly.

"Un?" – came the whispered response. Hinata wasn't sure what to say, but didn't say anything else except…

"Are you okay?"

"Not really. Hinata-chan… do you mind if we cuddle tonight? I promise not to bother you for this tomorrow night."

Hinata nodded and felt elated to feel Harumi's warmth against her body.

:-:

The next morning was anything but cheerful for Shikamaru. He was seriously considering moving in to the ANBU Headquarters. If only to run – _yes __**run**_ – from his troublesome mother and her constant nagging. Didn't she get it that he was an adult now? Was she not happy about this?

It didn't seem so. When he complained this to his father, his wonderful father said that when he had enough dough to move out and get his own place, he'd be free to do as he wished without having his mother breathing down his neck. For now, though… he was stuck. But it struck something in him and he decided to talk about it with Hinata.

:-:

Kakashi felt suitably uncomfortable to have to go through with another mission like that. It seemed that all of their C-level mission would turn up this way. Harumi-chan wasn't acting like the date before though and when they went to sleep, he watched Harumi snuggle into Hinata until it came time for him to wake the other girl up for their shift. Hokage-sama had said that the girl needed some time to adjust to something she had learnt the day they came back from their bloody C-level turned A-level mission and he wondered why. Hokage-sama wouldn't say what he meant by that and what kind of information had made the bubbly girl so subdued, but he didn't pry for answers. He hoped that either a) Harumi would perk up sooner or later (sooner rather than later) or b) the girl would trust him enough to come up to him and talk about what was bothering her.

Luckily, by the time they did their job and return he saw that his worries were unfounded. Their C-level mission hadn't turned A-level. It was starting to look promising and… he jinxed it. Bloody damn it.

:-:

Iruka was now getting used to learning that Team 7 had the worst of luck ever. So far, Team 7 had completed thirteen C-level missions (that didn't turn into a higher level), four B-level missions (starting as C-level, but ending up like that to mere coincidence) and twenty A-level missions (you don't want to ask how they came to be). And now; Hokage-sama had requested Team 7 be given an A-rank mission, to act as a retrieval mission for Team 8 in the Land of Waves. Many other jounins were totally against sending a genin team – no matter how many high level missions the team had managed to accomplish – to do away with Gato in the land of Waves.

:-:

Shikamaru grumbled. He was sure this was the first A-ranked mission they were being sent on that was going to be troublesome with a capital 'T'. Not that all the other missions weren't as troublesome as the others, but still… he sighed. This wasn't what he had signed up on when he was told about Harumi's secret. He looked to his left to see that Harumi wasn't acting unlike herself anymore, but she wasn't as happy to be getting out of the village as she usually was. Harumi – he knew – hid stuff from them all the time. But lately she had been pretty much closed off on them, although Hinata had confessed that Harumi seemed to be getting some sort of comfort from snuggling up to her at night. He wasn't jealous though. Harumi was Shikamaru's most precious person, and still Hinata was not a vindictive kind of person, at least not towards him.

Meeting the failure that was Sasuke was a treat, though. He had gotten bashed quite a bit so that he didn't look as arrogant as he was before. But he still didn't like the foreboding feeling when Harumi came to check Sasuke a bit more.

"I'm fine." – He heard the arrogant Rookie of the year say to his teammate and he snorted from where he was sitting at.

Harumi blew a raspberry at him and said in what Shikamaru came to realize was her '_I'm attempting to not be upset with you, but you're making it hard on me_' voice.

"You ARE not fine. I can see it, Shikamaru can see it, hell even the lady of the house – if she were here – sees it! If you want to act like you're too macho to receive some help then be that way, but consider this… we may have to fight tomorrow, and I don't want a liability fighting next to me that would fall under the enemy's attacks the moment they hit him where it obviously hurts him!"

Kakashi came into the bridge builder's living room and was wide-eyed at how annoyed Harumi was acting towards the last Uchiha.

Sasuke blushed heavily and grudgingly – although he didn't say so out loud – let Harumi do her job.

"T-thank you." – He mumbled lowly and Harumi (her previous mood forgotten already) chirpily obliged him.

"You're welcome."

Shikamaru didn't like that Harumi could have Sasuke behaving like putty in her tender care, but he realized he had not much of a choice, because he was seriously thinking they'd end up doing something tomorrow. And that something, he was sure would not be pretty.

:-:

The town was deserted. For what Chouji was commenting to Hinata, Tazuna-san had commented that Wave Country was lacking in money and that the bridge would benefit the town and the whole country in itself by bringing in new lines of commerce and such things. Hinata noted that Gatou – after the terrible fight at the bridge where Team 8 had sort of split into pieces – had used things to his advantage and ransacked the village for whatever was left. The town was a total loss. There was misery here. She could feel it in her bones even without using her byakugan to sort out the places where the samurai had been at. This was no man's territory.

"Are you guys going to be able to help us out and get Kurenai-sensei and Sakura back? 'Cause maybe Sakura is a 'troublesome' girl as Shikamaru puts it, but she's my teammate and I want no ill to befall her." – Chouji said as he cradled his injured arm on the makeshift shift that Harumi made out of a long sleeves shirt that he had with him in his knapsack the day they had arrived at Tazuna's house.

Hinata wasn't sure what she could say or do to make Chouji feel better, but she said the truth anyhow. Lying just wasn't her style.

"It's not that I don't believe we can't do it. We've done it before. It's just that… I want to make no promises to you in case that before we rescue Kurenai and Sakura, and they are '_used_', you don't feel guilty or try to blame us for it."

Chouji smiled softly and said… "I'm trying to be positive and hope against hope that neither is hurt, but this is like preparing for the worst and hoping for the best."

Hinata smiled a bit at him to make him see she understood what he meant.

:-:

"Very well… this is what we're going to do. Hinata, you and Sasuke will go face the stragglers inside the village. Shikamaru and I will enter – _quietly _– into Gatou's fortress and Harumi will handle the rescuing of Kurenai and Sakura, everyone agrees? Good. Chouji will stay here to protect Tazuna's family house. It is our safe house after all. We will reconvene here in three hundred hours, ok?" – Kakashi noticed all the genins' nods and nodded himself.

They all ran to their locations and begun the operation when Kakashi beeped them through their ear-plug communicator.

:-:

Hinata abhorred Sasuke. Not because he stole the coveted status of being Rookie of the Year at the Academy, but because instead of choosing to live life, he was choosing to end it by following after a madman. Madman, because she knew that the massacre hadn't happened like everyone else thought it did.

She stopped where she had walked to and said…

"I know we don't get along. But you gotta do what I say when I want you to do so, otherwise we'll be screwed. Don't play the hero, ok? We're here to make sure there aren't any more opponents that either my teammates have to deal with, ok?"

Sasuke nodded, but inside he seethed. How could Hyuuga Hinata know a lot more than he did?!

They watched each side and engaged into battle the minute a drunk samurai noticed Hinata's exotic eyes. He watched amazed – with his recently activated sharingan – that the girl knew what she was doing and that she wasn't even using the gentle fist the Hyuuga were known for! But before he could just stand there amidst the battle and not fight, an opponent came his way and he engaged in a fight for his life. The sheer ferocity and the '_I know I'm going to die, but I'm taking you with me_' motto these thieves and samurai were going by, was harsh.

:-:

Shikamaru and Kakashi made it into Gatou's office without trouble. Clouding themselves in Shikamaru's Kagemane technique, they were able to travel inside like they weren't even there.

Gatou seemed unaware of what was going on, how he went on moaning; made Shikamaru want to retch on the premises. Kakashi's heart froze when he recognized the girl. It was Sakura who was been made to service the fat and pudgy man. Shikamaru gagged but didn't make a sound. With one swift turn of Shikamaru's katana, Gatou died whilst in the throes of an abrupt orgasm.

Gently, Kakashi knelt and pushed Sakura out of the dead man's dick. Her hair was matted with dirt and blood, he had been told the girl had long pink hair, now it was lacking luster and length. She looked like a tomboy, but it didn't matter. The blank eyes said it all. All innocence was destroyed.

"Shit." – Shikamaru muttered as he turned away from the scene of seeing his sensei taking care of Sakura.

Kakashi turned to look and was revolted. Not too far away from where they stood, there was a boy naked and tied to the wall by a chain. His eyes were brown and glaring hatefully at the dead man. He was defiled, that much Kakashi could see. He was disgusted; did this man have no shame? But the dead didn't say what they felt like when they were alive. Reminiscing about that was stupid; a ghost could never tell you what they did and why before they died.

"I'm not going to hurt you." – Kakashi heard Shikamaru whisper softly.

The boy shook his head from one side to the other and Kakashi tried to hold his thoughts in. The man that was now dead had cut the boy's tongue out.

:-:

Harumi had it much easier. She got the prisoners – all women and children – out and went in search for Yuuhi Kurenai. She weaved through the walls and scurried around like a rat, using her kage-bunshin as a way to get the prisoners out of there quietly. The moment she was discovered by the enemy, the innocents would be caught in the crossfire that she didn't want to activate.

When she finally found Kurenai, she was glad to see she was only shackled and that she seemed ok. But she couldn't find Sakura and this worried her. She set to free the woman, being as silent as possible. It was a few minutes that she escaped a truly mean genjutsu coming from the woman in front of her. She was probably waiting for her turn because she was unconscious. Harumi could carry her, but she didn't want to. She needed to save her strength for something else.

She cursed before a beep stopped her. It was Shikamaru's code for 'Need help, come find us.' Well she beeped right back before she felt that someone was making its way to her. She turned around and sighed in relief at finding Chouji.

"You don't know how glad I am to see you!" – She said lowly.

Chouji smiled embarrassed to being caught but happy he was of some use.

"I couldn't just stay there in an empty house all by myself. Tell me what to do."

Harumi smiled and instructed him to grab Kurenai and help her get her out of there.

:-:

"We made it!" – Harumi cried once they made it out of the ship in which they had hidden the women for the samurai's pleasure.

A woman with a whimpering child came towards her and bowed.

"Thank you for getting us out of there. You have saved us from greater damage." – Chouji instantly recognized Tazuna's daughter.

"Tsunami-san!" – He cried out feeling tears come to his eyes. He hoped that she would be okay.

"Chouji-san!" – The woman cried once she recognized him.

Harumi turned away and begun to beep Shikamaru, to see what he needed.

:-:

It was midnight when the village was finally quiet. It was eerie, but the silence was a welcome change for Hinata who had been fighting for a long long while with Sasuke at her back. They made it to the safe house to find that Harumi had taken the women and children from the village there to cure and tend to. Some were only scared of how close they came to being sold as slaves. Others had minor injuries from whenever they had fought their captors, refusing to give in to them. The children were silent and traumatized. It was literally a warzone.

Hinata looked at Sasuke and said… "Begin to do some damage control. This is also part of our job, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked aghast. But one look at the boy who had said that Gatou would kill them all, he felt like he was staring at himself from the past.

"Told you, we'd make it; Inari." – He croaked and the kid finally cried out loud and ran into his arms for an awkward hug.

Harumi looked at the touching scene from the corner of her eye and smiled softly to herself. Perhaps Sasuke wasn't beyond hope yet.

:-:

Shikamaru brought in the boy in his arms to the safe house, walking slowly as to not make him feel pain. The boy was obviously older than he was, but he looked so skinny and vulnerable that Shikamaru felt like he was the older one. Kakashi lagged behind him with Sakura on his back. They made good time towards the safe house, glad that they had found the rest of their team okay.

Shikamaru put the boy in front of Harumi and it was then he noticed the vindictive glare Sasuke gave the boy.

"Uchiha!" – Shikamaru barked. Sasuke jolted as if waking from a dream.

Harumi ignored her teammate in favor of the boy in front of her. Had she been someone else, she would've blushed at being this close to the male anatomy. She could tell he was fifteen. She wished he didn't have all of those abrasions.

She started to spell letters in his hand with her index finger, gently. After a while she begun to make him see, she didn't want to hurt him.

"_I tried to kill myself after my master – Zabuza-sama was killed – by cutting off my tongue, but Gatou had me throw up and then brought me into his office._" – He explained in the same manner she 'spoke' to him.

It was slow going, but she got the gist of it. At least, he had helped a little, but not much; with Sakura. She dreaded even going to her. She was an apprentice to a medic-ninja and she lacked the knowledge in how to help Sakura unwind from the trauma she had experienced.

:-:

They made their way back to Konoha after making sure the villagers would be okay. Kakashi had brought some of the men back, and with the help of the boys; they rebuilt what was damaged in some of the houses. Afterwards, the women themselves brushed their help out. Harumi explained to her sensei that they wanted to take care of themselves now. He understood. What he didn't know is what to do about Kurenai and Sakura. Both kunoichi had suffered a lot. He was sure Kurenai would be okay after a long stay at the hospital, but the genin? He wasn't sure. Harumi had gotten the whole story from Haku – who was also coming with them at Harumi's insistence – and it was terrible. Even being as good as he was doing his job, he wasn't immune to inhumanity and everything Gatou had done, had ordered and demanded was cruel. He understood why poor Haku-kun could not stay in the village and why they needed to bring him back.


	4. Chapter 4

Dangerous

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: AU What if… Hiashi – knowing the troubles that laid ahead for his first daughter should she turn out to be unable to beat Neji when they become genin – decides to sell her off to an ANBU operative – not ROOT – and in the process changes things irrevocably?

A/N: Due to the reading of a good Shikamaru + Naruto story called "The Rubber band Odyssey" by antilogicgirl and a bit of another fanfiction in which Hinata turns out to be a damn good ninja.

Pairings: Hinata + FemNaruto + Shikamaru. (Because male Naruto with male Shikamaru is not something I think I'd probably be able to do the gay couple justice).

Warnings: Yes… the idea of Hinata and a girl Naruto is preposterous to those that are fans of that coupling, but what can I say… it rang in my head one time and it's been stuck in it ever since. So… mentions of threesomes with Naruto in the middle.

Part IV

_Six months later…_

Kurenai stepped out of the hospital. Her wounds were so extensive; she had been forced to stay at the hospital under that order and had fallen into a short coma sometime after she had been rescued and brought to Konoha. Only the Hokage and her still perfectly physically well students came to visit her. She was told by Sarutobi Asuma – that man came only at night for fear others would know that he was seeing her, which made her mad as hell sometimes – that Sakura hadn't recovered well. The emotional trauma of being used as a whore, her virginity taken by a tongue-less boy who used to be her enemy in a place where their enemies watched, being taken by many samurais, many of Gatou's lackeys… Kurenai hadn't wanted her to suffer for it, but she had thought that Gatou would take a liking to her instead of her pink-haired student. Apparently, the man was sick and liked men more than women.

Kakashi came a week after she woke up from her coma, which was roughly three months after being rescued and brought back to Konoha. He came in to report he had taken Uchiha Sasuke – genin – and Akimichi Chouji under his command for the time being. When she had asked about Sakura, he had hesitated.

_Flashback…_

"And Sakura? How is she?" – She had asked partly afraid for her health and partly curious of her status, had she recovered from her ordeal?

"Haruno Sakura fell into a coma shortly after coming here. Her mental wounds were something even my genin who's studying to be a medical ninja wasn't equipped to deal with. Harumi treated Sakura's most superficial wounds, for even if Harumi has a chakra well, she is still just a twelve year old girl. When we got here, the medics found out how extensive were the damage."

"Well? Go on, tell me what they said!" – She exclaimed after a long pronounced bout of silence.

"Sakura-san will never be able to bear children. She's barren."

Kurenai stumbled back on her pillows in shock. She felt tears gather in her eyes and couldn't stop them from falling down her cheeks.

"Her anus opening was torn asunder; she lost at least two to three front teeth on her upper maxillary bone and two front teeth on her mandible. All of the rest of her wounds have healed, but she's clearly blocking herself from reality since even though she's under a stable condition, her mind is gone. The doctors think it might be possible for her to come back to herself, but only after a long while of therapy." – Kakashi reported dutifully.

"Oh my God!" – Kurenai cried out.

Kakashi's face comically resembled a deer caught in the headlights. He seemed to want to flee, but he came to visit Kurenai because he needed to know what to do. The girl's parents were haunting him for answers, answers he could never supply to them. But he was sure that once their daughter regained some consciousness that they'd be taking her out of duty. What a true tragedy, first C-level mission outside of the village to encounter a criminal such as Gatou!

Finally Kurenai pulled herself together and asked about Sasuke's mentality.

"And Sasuke? How is he handling things?"

"Uchiha Sasuke seems to be okay, for the most part. He lost his arrogance long before we got to Wave Country. He seems to be angry at himself for being too weak to protect Sakura and you. But Harumi… well Harumi worked a little of her magic in him. He's more human now than whatever I have seen before. The shrink says Sasuke has learned to value life now more than ever."

Kurenai sighed in relief. At least the basket case wasn't a total loss.

"Akimichi Chouji is doing fine as well. He seemed to be feeling even more depressed with what happened with Sakura. But these three months working together with Shikamaru has made him realized it wasn't anyone's fault."

"So you've been working with five genin at once?" – She asked feeling wonder creep up on her tone of voice.

"Iie. As soon as Harumi came back to Konoha, she was whisked away by her medical sensei and I haven't seen her since."

"Her medical sensei? Who is it?" – she asked curious again.

"I'm not at a liberty to tell you, Kurenai." – was what he said in the end. She understood why later on when she caught sight of a woman she had only seen in history books and not ever in all her lifetime, until now.

_End of Flashback._

Now here she stood wondering what she was going to do now. She shrugged her shoulders and decided to pay a visit to the Harunos, to see how Sakura was doing.

The visit turned out to be a disaster, Sakura's mother was the typical civilian mother, plump and without any education beyond attending her small groceries shop. The father was a mechanic and although much more of an educated man, he was gruff and did not want to hear excuses. As she made her way out of the Haruno's home, she thought she felt someone looking at her from above. She looked up and met weary green eyes, she smiled gently and Sakura closed the curtain without acknowledging her greeting.

She sighed.

:-:

Ino went to visit her friend for old time's sake. Sakura's mother wasn't in a very good mood and told her off. Ino wanted to tell her to behave, but she knew the shock of having her daughter raped, humiliated, and used like a piece of trash was something that took a lot to take in. But still… perhaps because Mrs. Haruno was a civilian did she not understand that Sakura was different now and that she did not need to be cuddled. She needed to get back to her job, to being a kunoichi, to get some self-respect back. Ino wished she could do something to get the mother to understand, but alas her mother didn't like Mrs. Haruno that much and she was alone in wanting to help her friend.

Three weeks later, she was surprised to find Sasuke coming up to her with a hesitant look on his face.

"Oh Sasuke-kun! I knew you would see the—" – She was stopped when he raised a hand in the universal sign 'Stop'.

"I didn't come to ask you out on a date. I came to ask about Sakura. Have you seen her?" – He asked.

She was stupefied. She didn't think her crush would ever care for Sakura. She looked at him blankly and then said…

"No. Her mom wouldn't let me see her whenever I went by her house. I was told that she was out of the comma and that she was back home by the doctors; but nothing else." – she looked at him wondering what was on his mind.

"Where does Sakura live?"

Ino showed him and watched with trepidation as he looked at the quaint little house, before turning away and leaving. She wondered why he looked at it first before leaving. Why did he want to see where Sakura lived but did not go visit her? Sasuke was a mystery she had no time to crack tonight.

:-:

Sasuke looked ridiculous. He hated the formal clothing. But something Harumi had told him the other day hit him hard. It wasn't like she said. He wasn't waiting for another teammate. Sakura had been a pain in the ass for the first few days they had had together, but she was smart and she did her best when they did their missions. That one C-level ruined it. But he knew then that there was more to Sakura and he knew she had pride. He wondered if what he was doing was fine, but he didn't dare turn back now. The whole town had seen him walking like this towards the civilian district number 2 where Sakura lived and he wasn't turning back now.

"Who is it?" – Came the voice of an older woman from inside the house.

"It's Uchiha Sasuke. I came to see my teammate Sakura." – There. At least he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

The door opened to the sight of Sakura's mom, a plump woman with wide hips, wide belly and small breasts. Her hair was pink like her daughter's, but her eyes were brown. Sasuke thought it was a strange combination, but didn't say it out loud.

"You have some nerve coming here looking for my daughter, Uchiha-san!" – She hissed at him looking angry and weird. The lines around her mouth were more for laughter than anger, he noticed as he looked her straight in the eye. He wouldn't fear censor from her.

"I came to see Sakura. Whether you want to admit it or not, it was her decision to become a Kunoichi. Maybe it was based on the wrong side of things for her to choose to become a ninja, but still it was her decision. I understand Sakura more than you think I do, I know she's a smart person and that she's strong. I was just hoping to see her before you decide to take her out of the roster of duty. Save her the humiliation from becoming the first civilian girl to become kunoichi then to quit just as soon as it became too hard for her." – Then he gave her the care package he had bought and bowed goodbye.

:-:

Later at night, Sakura heard her parents discuss her future. Her father wanted to send her out of Konoha to become something out there. She didn't want to leave. Konoha was all she had ever known. Sasuke's words tumbled into her mind then and she sighed. She closed her eyes and determinedly decided to sneak out.

As she stood in front of the ninja academy, she realized it felt good to be outside on her own. The breeze was calming enough and she thought on one swing trying to think up a solution to her problems. She felt rather than saw that she was being watched, she tensed in preparation for a fight, but; she was shocked when the person who came upon her wasn't an enemy or a drunk civilian. It was Harumi. The girl she used to hate.

"You know it's dangerous at this time of the night." – Harumi chided gently.

Sakura thought it was a nice thing for her to say. It was true it was dangerous, but instead of telling her off and that she should be home, Harumi wasn't pitying her. She seemed to be caring about her state of mind, but didn't pity her. That meant a lot to Sakura, who had heard enough from her mother. They sat quietly side by side in the swings. The breeze was nice and it gave Sakura time to think and put her thoughts in order.

"My parents want me to move with them out of Konoha." – She said in a deadpan tone of voice.

Harumi nodded but didn't say a thing to her. Sakura was grateful for this.

"Sasuke came to see me, but my mother didn't let him through. Not even Ino managed to get into my house. I'm a bit disappointed my mom thinks I'm weak of mind."

Sakura sighed, rubbing her hands together to find some warmth in them. The air was chilly now.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you back there in Wave Country." – Harumi apologized softly.

Sakura snorted and said: "You're a human being. Oh God! I'm so sick of hearing people 'You're going to be okay' or 'I'm so sorry this happened to you'! I don't know what to do or what to say to my parents, to the shrink! I'm going mad!"

Harumi turned to Sakura and gently took her hand in hers.

"I can't heal you. You have to heal yourself. If you don't like how things are going, then do something about it. Everyone in this world has suffered at one point or another. I'm not telling you that with time it'll get easier, because I don't know if it will. But of one thing I'm certain, if you fall down; all you have to do is pick yourself up again. The rest don't matter, it's how you feel things that matter."

"And what do I do? I'm still a minor in the eyes of the law?!" – Sakura cried, her green eyes starting to fill with tears. The first tears after so long back from the whole ordeal.

Harumi sighed and then looked up to the starless sky.

"Well… if you want to continue working as a ninja… you glue your mind, your heart together. You make sure that the next time; you're strong enough that no one can take you down. If your parents don't want to let you, you could emancipate yourself from them. You like to read right, well then; there are laws that help genin do this."

Sakura looked at Harumi with gratitude and then smiled. It was tremulous at best, but it was a smile nonetheless.

:-:

Kurenai saw her team on a bright Monday morning. There was Chouji who seemed content and really glad to see her. Sasuke – who looked like he was blushing a bit – bowed to her and apologized for being such a nuisance when he didn't know anything about life really. And the biggest shock of all was Sakura who bowed to her and asked for more training to become stronger.

She could finally find some peace of mind. Her team was damaged around the edges, but there was a way to fix those damages.

They trained like crazy and then when the time for the chunnin exams came about and she was summoned, she wasn't sure as to whether or not let them enter. Because they had grown closer than ever, but there were still growing into their own unit. So she sat at the jounin lounge feeling conflicted about them. As Asuma and Kakashi entered the lounge, she settled somewhat.

"So… let's cut the crap. Are you guys entering your teams for the chunnin exams? They graduated not eight months ago." – Asuma said as he put the cigarette into the ground and snuffed it out with his boot.

Kurenai looked to the side and sighed.

"Considering how my team turned out… I'm unsure. I was thinking that they've gone through a lot. But if I under-estimate them… especially Sakura… they'll feel like I've abandoned them."

Asuma sighed.

"My team is controversial at best. Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino work well, and well Ino has changed a lot since they became genins. But I don't think they're ready for it yet."

"Team 7 is entering the chunnin exams."

Kurenai looked at Kakashi pleadingly and he sighed.

"Harumi has grown into her medical skills so much, to hold her back would be a setback instead of a safety net. Hinata and Shikamaru are very well grounded – I've trained them to the bone after all – and they're a good team. If you want my opinion… you should all stop coddling them so much. I'm not saying that you shouldn't guide them, but if we always underestimate them… how are they supposed to grow?"

Asuma looked into space considering what his friend had told him. He was sure that the boys were okay and that they would do great in the exam, but Ino… in spite of the fact that she had grown a bit after Sakura's trauma became known to her… was she ready for the emotional drawbacks of the exam? He would have to trust that she'd come out alright in the end.

Kurenai sighed and nodded. She had only been a little skeptic at letting her team participate in the exams due to the past C-level mission gone wrong, but Kakashi was right. If she coddled them too much, they could turn against her instead of moving ahead as they had been lately.

:-:

"Well now… of the three rookie teams, would the three jounin senseis come forth?" – The Sandaime said.

Iruka sat nervously beside him jotting down all of the teams that had been entered so far.

"I, Sarutobi Asuma; state that Team 10 consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Yamanaka Ino are ready to take the chunnin exams."

Iruka wanted to protest, but held his tongue.

"I, Hatake Kakashi; state that Team 7 consisting of Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Harumi aka Naruto are ready to take the chunnin exams."

There was a bit of a scuffle as Maito Gai jumped in front of Kakashi and said…

"I don't think you should do this my eternal rival!" – He said seriously.

"If you bothered to take a look at how many missions my minions have managed to engage in and complete satisfactorily, then you'll see why I have nominated them for the chunnin exams; Gai." – Kakashi stated in his bored tone.

"ORDER!" – The Hokage said when the whole room erupted into chaos.

"I, Yuuhi Kurenai; nominate Team 8 for the chunnin exams." – Kurenai said before she wouldn't be able to get in a word edgewise.

There was silence.

It was Iruka who cried out against the idea.

"They are not ready! None of them are."

The room's environment turned icy frost. Kurenai turned her red eyes to the chunnin and said…

"It is true that not two months ago, my team was facing a potential loss due to one of my genin being injured in our first C-level mission. But I know my genin and if I say they are ready for it, then I think they are."

Iruka blushed at the reprimand, but stood firm.

"How about this?" – Kakashi said before a fight between the kunoichi and the chunnin could erupt.

"You have a suggestion, Kakashi-kun?" – Sandaime said.

Kakashi inwardly cringed at the '-kun'.

"Yes. If Umino-sensei believes that the rookie genin aren't ready for it, why doesn't he conduct a brief examination? If the genin don't find a way to defeat his test, then they won't enter. If they do, Umino-sensei will reconsider his opinion."

"And apologize." – Kurenai mumbled although all the men near her acknowledged her statement with a brief snicker.

"Is that okay Iruka-kun?" – Sandaime said.

Iruka looked a little lost for a second, but nodded in the end.

:-:

Iruka took a look at Sasuke and sent him a brief genjutsu of his brother. Sasuke responded in hatred for a few minutes before recovering himself and getting away from the illusion. Iruka smiled convinced that he was getting better. When he put his teammate Sakura in a horrifying version of a rape, he was surprised to see her immediately releasing the illusion and saying… "You won't get me like that sensei. I'm stronger now."

Using a brief trap, he tried to tie Shikamaru to a tree but found himself trapped with Kagemane for a second, before he kawarimi'd himself away from him.

By the time he made it to the Hokage Tower, he grudgingly agreed that he was wrong. Kurenai forgave him because she was sure he was doing it thinking of the genin's well-being rather than wanting to hold them back just because he could.

"You owe me lunch, however." – She said as she sauntered away leaving him blushing and in despair.

:-:

Harumi entered the Academy building two days before the exams were supposed to begin. She had been called – as Hinata and Shikamaru had been – to the top roof of the main Academy's building by Morino Ibiki. She wondered what was going to happen.

"Uzumaki Harumi, presenting herself for duty, Sir!" – She said as she saluted.

Ibiki smiled at her wickedly. Shikamaru and Hinata winced as they saw this.

"You're late brat. But since I know of your training with Tsunade-sama takes longer than anything else… I'll let it go just this once."

Harumi grinned.

"Why are we here, Ibiki-san?" – Hinata said.

"All this time, you've been training with your respective ANBU instructors. But so far, you have never gone to an ANBU mission nor have you presented the ANBU's regulation exam. Therefore… this is your chance. Intelligence has informed me that there is a new village joining us. You may have noticed them walking around with headbands that have music notes as the insignia for which village are they from."

At the three nods, he went on.

"This new village is called Sound. It is located somewhere in Rice Country. Recently, there has been some looting and fights between factions of the Country's lords. They haven't gotten to a good resolution yet. Sources say that a big bad ass ninja talked with the current governing lord and 'asked' to be able to build a hidden village inside."

Hinata looked puzzled, but Shikamaru caught on quick.

"Who is it by the way?" – He asked.

"Well… many of you have noticed that my partner, Mitarashi Anko has a curse seal on the base of her neck. This was given to her by an S-class missing ninja called Orochimaru."

"The Snake Sannin?!" – Shikamaru said coughing in the end for having caught his own saliva going into the wrong tube.

"Yes. Recently, she's been receiving these small twinges of pain. It makes us believe that he's inside the village once again."

"Are you asking us to kill him?" – Harumi said looking bored but both her teammates knew she was anything but.

"No. As advanced genin you are, you wouldn't be able to put a dent into this guy. I want you to spy on this one guy we're sure is leaking information to him."

"What is his name?" – Hinata asked.

"Yakushi Kabuto."

:-:

Shikamaru walked in between his two teammates sighing. This was the one time he regretted being an ANBU rookie.

"Well… I've something I wanted to tell you guys." – He said in the end of a long bout of silence.

Hinata and Harumi stopped walking and looked back at him.

"My ANBU instructor has told me that I'll be on duty after a month."

Hinata looked pensive to the side and she said confirming what he had already suspected.

"My instructor has also told me the same. After the chunnin exams, I'm becoming an ANBU officially."

Harumi looked upset for a second before grinning sloppily at them.

"Unless Shikamaru moves out of his house soon, we're going to be missing each other for a while."

Shikamaru sighed as he said: "Yeah. It's been troublesome being at home now, but as to now I've not met the required amount of money to buy myself an apartment."

Harumi looked decidedly as if she had something to tell them that they knew not of. Hinata looked crossed at the idea whilst Shikamaru looked intrigued.

"I have a house of my own."

Even if this was true, it was clearly not what they were expecting.

"WHAT?!" – Were the two hisses coming from both Hinata and Shikamaru?

Harumi laughed happily.

"I'll show you!"

:-:

The house as it turned out was actually a mansion. Shikamaru looked at the living room and the spacious kitchen. Hinata browsed through the large library and Harumi wisely kept her mouth shut. It wasn't until someone came in on them.

"…" – Shikamaru looked at the guy in front of him and just pointed.

Haku smiled softly. His short hair was spiked upwards; he wore a light grey kimono and soft sandals. His brown eyes were happy and glistening and Shikamaru noticed something else.

"You have been adopted into a clan." – He stated but it seems as if he were asking instead of just saying it.

"Yes. I'm Namikaze Haku now." – said a low voice.

Hinata was visually startled at his soft melodious voice. She turned to Harumi and pointed shakily at her.

"You… you fixed him?!"

"Yup!"

"Namikaze?!" – Shikamaru said in the end sputtering out the name as it clicked in his head.

"Yup!" – was Harumi's ongoing response.

"We're going to become a clan!" – Hinata said surprised but happy as well when she jumped Harumi and hugged her fiercely.

Shikamaru felt his legs weren't up to holding him upright before he was engulfed in a warm hug by his other two friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Dangerous

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: AU What if… Hiashi – knowing the troubles that laid ahead for his first daughter should she turn out to be unable to beat Neji when they become genin – decides to sell her off to an ANBU operative – not ROOT – and in the process changes things irrevocably?

A/N: Due to the reading of a good Shikamaru + Naruto story called "The Rubber band Odyssey" by antilogicgirl and a bit of another fanfiction in which Hinata turns out to be a damn good ninja.

Pairings: Hinata + FemNaruto + Shikamaru. (Because male Naruto with male Shikamaru is not something I think I'd probably be able to do the gay couple justice).

Warnings: Yes… the idea of Hinata and a girl Naruto is preposterous to those that are fans of that coupling, but what can I say… it rang in my head one time and it's been stuck in it ever since. So… mentions of threesomes with Naruto in the middle.

:-:

**Part V**

The chunnin exams arrived with clear blue skies – obvious of the firmly sunny weather that Konoha had. Orochimaru hidden underneath a kage-level henge of a female Grass genin snorted. He hated the happy sunny weather. And he hated surprises even more. Ever since he came into Konoha a week prior, he had noticed there was something different in the air.

Even worse was that Kabuto hadn't said anything of where the last Uchiha was. He had been told that the boy had activated his sharingan, but no further news had been told. He was beginning to get impatient. He hid his impatience and his irritation with how things were going under a deadly smile. Many stayed far away from his group and when the rookies appeared Orochimaru was pleasantly surprised to see Uchiha Sasuke looking serious and ready for anything. But then they all crowded together – that is the rookies– and he couldn't tell which his teammates were. Oh bummer, well he'd have to find out later on.

:-:

Harumi sat next to Gaara of the Sand as Ibiki had intended her to do. The redhead was firmly keeping an eye on her as she diligently worked on her test. She even knew why he was so curious about her. The Kyuubi – the beast hadn't stirred in her not even once in the course of all her twelve years and now, it was making comments of how tasty the redhead looked, how much 'it' craved for some jinchuuriki blood.

Gaara was thinking the same, Harumi was sure. She wanted to try that seal technique that her sensei had taught her, but she didn't dare just yet. In any case, as she looked at her paper and waited for the 'dreaded' tenth question; she took stock in her surroundings. She analyzed every one of the people in there. When she sensed Kabuto's chakra she noticed two things… one he was not completely human anymore and two, he had been 'planted' two entirely different chakras to keep him as a sleeper in Konoha.

She already knew he was a spy for Orochimaru. Who was the other one?

:-:

The tenth question as it turned out was all about choice. As predicted the room full of genin hopefuls turned from a 150 genins to 30 genins. Shikamaru was hopeful that more than five genin teams remained and his wishes had been fulfilled. What he had also hoped – as it would be less troublesome – was that Team 8 would forfeit. But it didn't happen. He sighed as he waited for their new instructor to come. He had known that Mitarashi Anko was going to be their examination instructor, but when the person came in through the door he was shocked to see an ANBU official who almost never showed his face… code name Yamato.

As they walked away to where the second part was to take place, he watched as Ino handed the consent forms to the few genin hopefuls and Shikamaru signed it easily. He waited for their turn and mumbled 'Troublesome' under his breath. Beside him, Harumi and Hinata smiled knowingly.

The forest of death was something all three had experienced at one time or another usually under the law of one Mitarashi Anko. This time, Yamato didn't threaten them – or the rest of the genin – with a wicked smile and a salacious comment on wanting to teach them the finer points of sex, but he did cautioned the rest as to how dangerous the forest was. And then he gave out the clincher. They had three days – instead of five which made Kabuto and Orochimaru grimace and pout – to get to the tower with two scrolls, one of Earth and one of Heaven and their team complete.

A day had not gone by before Team 8 was approached by Team 7.

"Harumi-chan!" – Sakura gaily said as she reached towards her.

Both Teams – except Harumi who was aware of where this was going – were shocked at Sakura's greeting. Sasuke felt conflictive mixed emotions rising in him, he was sort of happy to be able to hear his teammate emit cheerfulness for once since the dreaded C-level mission from hell and he was also sort of wondering whether or not the cheerfulness in her voice was a trick or something worse.

"Sakura-chan!" – And then the two girls hugged.

Hinata activated – secretly – her byakugan to see if it were an illusion of some sort made by their enemy. Her mind boggled at the fact it wasn't an illusion per se, but the activation of one. She knew then that her friend Harumi had something up her sleeve. Tenzou hadn't given any sub-mission to them and this made her wary of any schemes their enemy might make against them.

"Harumi, Report." – Shikamaru barked as in an order. Hinata didn't wince, but Chouji and Sasuke who weren't used to seeing Shikamaru being that forceful did.

"Well… we've made an alliance." – Harumi said with no smile on her face to show her indecision. Hinata knew she was just playing a part.

"It'd be better for them just to quit." – Hinata reminded Harumi quietly.

Sasuke bristled and hissed at her: "Do you think we aren't good enough? We've grown as a team and individually, so we're good enough to take this test. Kurenai-sensei said so!"

Hinata turned to look at Sasuke and gave him a cold look.

"Normally, you would be good enough to pass on the first two tests as teams. But this time you'd be facing an enemy that even we – Team 7 – can't handle, how do you think that you as part of Team 8, who is beneath us in battlefield experience think of defeating one who is a legend!"

Sakura's face whitened at the idea.

"A Sannin?! Which one?!" – She cried out in dismay. Her confidence and her skill in genjutsu had grown out a lot, but not as far as to attempt to fight a legend and win.

"The only one who turned traitor to Konoha for power and immortality, the Snake Sannin himself." – Hinata stated haughtily.

Sasuke looked vaguely confused and wanted to go on with the test regardless of what Team 7 said, but the scared look of both of his teammates made it hard for him to stay on the arrogant side.

"How do we quit?" – Chouji asked quietly.

"You could open the scroll you have in your hand now and you'd be whisked out of here." – Shikamaru pointed out.

"Or… you wouldn't have to even quit. Just trade places with us." – Harumi counterpointed Shikamaru's fact.

Sasuke looked at both options with his mind and heart open and sighed when he got to the point that his team's safety overweighed the part where they could get to a chunnin promotion.

"Chouji… open the scroll. We're quitting."

"Sasuke-kun…" – Sakura looked at her teammate and smiled gently acknowledging his words to be true. They had no chance against those odds.

Team 7 saw that the fell down to sleep and that Iruka was the one who was summoned in the scroll to get them out of the Forest of Death.

"Well! And I thought they'd been ready to face all consequences!" – He said smiling a bit. Harumi entered the clearing once more and said…

"So sorry sensei, but it's better this way."

Iruka looked down at her and smiled.

"Well… if you say so. Best of all luck to you guys." – He said

"We don't need luck sensei." – Hinata haughtily stated and winced when Shikamaru jabbed her on the side.

"Can you not say Team 8 quit just yet?" – Shikamaru asked the chunnin sensei before he left in a poof of smoke.

Iruka looked questioningly at his ex-student.

"It's for the sake of a mission." – Harumi said laying some odd looking rocks in the clearing which they were currently standing about at.

"Well ok. I'll let Kurenai-sensei know at the end of the third day, would that suffice for the timing of your mission?"

Both Shikamaru and Harumi nodded.

Hinata harrumphed instead.

Iruka nodded and said good-bye.

Then Hinata was surprised that after the chunnin had left with Team 8, three doppelgangers that looked terribly like Team 8 appear out of thin air.

"Ok. What's going on?"

"We're making extra sure that Orochimaru carries out what he believes would be the easiest way of controlling the last of the Uchiha to his best interests." – Harumi said as she went to each of the doppelgangers and set up a tiny bit of her blue chakra with a small scroll.

"We didn't tell you because Tenzou only asked me. Harumi found out about it from the new Hokage at the wee hours of this morning, even before the written test."

"Wait. Back up. How much is it that you're not telling me?!" – Hinata said angrily.

"Not much. I bet you'll find out from Ibiki the moment we get to the Tower." – Shikamaru stated nonchalantly.

They watched Team 8 leave the premises as scheduled, Harumi looking especially for the melted rocks that she had placed in the clearing as a safety measure against Kabuto and Orochimaru. While her skill with summoning and seals wasn't up to par with the late Yondaime – she still couldn't get around the idea that that man who she had idolized as a kid was her father – or the Toad Sannin, but it was sufficient enough that she could do these type of things and get away with it.

Hinata wondered what else her teammates were keeping from her.

:-:

They arrived in on the first day and the other two teams who made it to the tower that day were Kabuto's team – as expected – as well as the Sound team. On the second day, Team 10 arrived bright and early although looking worse than ever and following them on the third day Team Gai.

Six teams in total made it to the third and final round. For that, since they were twelve genin, there had to be some sort of preliminaries and as Sandaime made the appropriate speech and in the shadows, Orochimaru seethed. Where was Team 8? Didn't his minions from Team Sound report to him that they'd done as they were told?

He didn't find the Team or Uchiha Sasuke – the boy who he had marked with the cursed seal. He began to look around for him, thinking he'd be under a henge; when he met the eyes of his old teammate Jiraiya grinning back at him. He looked back and blinked once in confusion when it ended up being a mirage. Maybe it was time to change bodies soon? He didn't know and he didn't care to learn just yet. He watched as the remaining genin were asked if any of them would like to quit. As expected, his servant Kabuto stepped out. He waited in the shadows to see if maybe the Uchiha kid would arrive or something, but he found nothing.

He left feeling bereft.

:-:

The preliminary fights started with Temari from the Sand and Tenten from Team Gai battling. As Hinata had thought, Tenten failed to win and Temari passed on to the third exam. After that she wondered if perhaps she'd meet Neji in a fight right now, but considered that whether or not they'd meet wasn't any of her concerns now. Only the information that her two teammates had withheld from her was of interest.

The second fight involved one genin from the sound team who had some sort of weird sound mechanism in his arms and one of Kabuto's teammates whose name was Yarodoi. It ended in a double knockout. What no one knew was that as soon as they were carried out of the arena, Ibiki was going to have some fun torturing them for answers.

The third and fourth fight ended up with Shino and Shikamaru as winners of their fights. The fifth fight ended up with Ino against Harumi to which Ino ended up losing. Harumi put her under a mild genjutsu involving her being naked in front of all those that were there waiting for their fight and Ino quit two seconds after the genjutsu started.

Harumi just smiled softly at Shikamaru's soft rebuke, but Hinata smiled at her friend's mischievousness. Hinata's fight was next and she ended up hitting Kiba right up using her friend's own jutsu, the infamous Oiroke no jutsu. Kiba ended up falling to the ground with a bloody nose courtesy of Hinata's fist and his own pervertedness. Even Sandaime had to close his eyes to escape the image of the ex-Hyuuga heiress being almost naked. Neji thought the girl was far below anything and would be glad to fight her if she ended up fighting again. Unfortunately he didn't get his wish.

His teammate Lee ended up paired up with Gaara from the Sound. When Shikamaru tried to tell him to not fight the redhead, Lee refused to do something that unyouthful as quitting before he even fought; Shikamaru snorted and said that he had tried his best. Hinata just smiled sadly in deference to the cheery lad and waited for the torture to begin.

It was okay for the first ten minutes of fighting; Lee seemed to be handling himself well. Shikamaru felt a tiny spark of hope flare inside his gut, but he knew it was a lost cause when the redhead began to give off an expression that was slightly short of insane. If it hadn't been for the interception of both Gai and Asuma, Gaara may have very well killed Lee. Tenten went to accompany Lee to the infirmary. Since Neji had not fought yet, Gai stayed whilst leaving his favorite student in the care of the medic-nins.

Neji's fight was as easy as Harumi's had been, the last of Kabuto's teammates was put on to fight the Hyuuga pride, last year's rookie of the year. Of course Neji won in the end, but everyone had sort of expected that to happen. Gai congratulated Neji and then quickly left to find where they had put Lee. Neji didn't seem to care that much that his sensei had gone. At last, the last genin; Kankuro ended up passing to the next exam by default since there was no else for him to fight with.

Sandaime instructed the genin that they had one month to prepare for the third exam and that the one they'd be fighting up against, they'd be told after they picked a number. The statistics ended up in favor of Konoha as Sandaime had hoped it would. Five genin hopefuls were from Konoha, three from Suna. The four fights for the third exam were as follows:

Hyuuga Neji versus Hyuuga Hinata.

Aburame Shino versus Sabaku no Kankuro

Sabaku no Temari versus Nara Shikamaru

Uzumaki Harumi versus Sabaku no Gaara.

After the appropriate talk from the Hokage once again, the genin were dismissed.

:-:

Kakashi met up with his three genin and said…

"It'd be useless of me to tell you I'm proud of your performance, but I will anyway." – and then he eye-smiled at them.

Hinata rolled her eyes, but hid a smile from her squad leader. Harumi cheered and Shikamaru uttered a soft 'this is so troublesome'.

Beside them, Asuma was congratulating Shino on his win and telling both Kiba and Ino that they'd be helping him with Shino's training for the final exam as part of the punishment for making him loose 250 coins to Kakashi. Ino and Kiba both groaned but nodded nonetheless.

With Team 7, Kakashi wondered what was going to be their training expectations; so he waited for them to speak up.

"Kakashi-sensei… I'm afraid that I'll have to rely on you to train me." – Hinata said knowing both of her ANBU trainers were going to be busy all month with the traitors from Konoha and the sound team losers from the preliminaries. She also knew that Neji was still up and about, so she wanted to make the proud boy think she was as weak as she had portrayed herself to be.

Kakashi nodded acknowledging her trick and said: "After you. And what of you two? He said looking to Shikamaru and Harumi."

Shikamaru looked to the side and said: "Well… that Suna chick has a great arsenal of wind techniques, so I'll be training with my dad about my Kagemane technique."

Harumi just looked away for a second before brightening and saying that she already had someone to train with. They parted after having some celebratory lunch at Ichiraku Ramen.

:-:

Harumi met both of her teachers at the Sandaime's office that afternoon after having lunch and scheduling a training session with Haku. Haku was going to show her how to use some water ninja techniques. What Haku didn't know was that she intended to pay his teachings towards her by approaching the Slug Sannin and asking her to teach the young man medical techniques. This would indeed become a great asset to Konoha when Haku's one year probation finalized.

Harumi knew her sensei had chosen to become Godaime and that Jiraiya was going to be the one teaching her some techniques in order to be able to defeat Gaara at the third exam. They didn't intend for Orochimaru to have his way with Konoha in any way he pleased. What bothered her was that she wasn't able to sign either the Slug contract or the Toad contract. The Slug Contract was sort of expenditure to being able to ascend to higher level medical training and the Toad Contract was of higher ground for that Sage training that Jiraiya had mentioned would work in her favor to control the Kyuubi. So which contract could she use?

That night – on their way to some sort of training grounds Jiraiya had meant to take up to teach her, since time was of essence – she dreamt of a mythical creature only seen in books: a phoenix.

When she woke up the next day, she found out that some sort of seal had been imprinted into her right arm and another type of seal in her left arm. Jiraiya told her they were summoning seals and that he'd only seen snakes hand out one of those. She scrunched up her nose at the thought of handling snakes, but she decided to test before the older male could tell her not to.

The spark started from the fire that Jiraiya had 'supposedly' blown out when the morning light came. It surrounded Harumi in a circle of burning fire and it raised to two feet above her head still surrounding her but never touching her. She didn't feel in danger of being burned out, two handsome men appeared in front of her from out of nowhere and she screamed in fright at their otherworldly looks.

One was a redhead more or less like Gaara, except that this man wasn't a jinchuuriki but the second in command of a god, his name he said – even though outside the ring of fire Jiraiya could hear nothing as he attempted to get the girl out of the fire with each and every suiton (water) technique he knew of – that his name was Youki. He was basically giving her the right to summon foxes, something that was the part of the terrible being inside of her.

He said that Kyuubi no Youko had thought that she was an interesting specimen who was why he had not allowed her to sign either contract with the legendary ninja Tsunade or Jiraiya.

The other being, a blond haired man with hazel eyes told her that in order to temper and soothe the evil that tainted the demon inside her belly; she'd been given a gift, the summoning of a phoenix. He said that his name was Yukihiro and that both he and Youki would be her teachers in summoning. All she had to do was concentrate in their training for two weeks. This training was alike the Sage training that Jiraiya had been meaning to teach her one day, but couldn't if she could not sign the Toad Summoning Contract. She relaxed a little and said she was ready.

She went into a comma that lasted exactly fourteen days. Of which Jiraiya used two to go back to Konoha and put her under the careful observation of Tsunade. Haku came by every single day to stand vigil over his clan's head. It was his duty after all. Seeing the devotion that he carried for the girl lying on the bed, Tsunade made a decision.

:-:

That month had gone pretty fast, but Hinata wasn't frightened. As opposed to others who were training for the final exam, she didn't train with her squad leader for new ninjutsu, but for speed and strength. She had adequate speed, but she knew that her cousin was fastest and a genius where the Hyuuga style concerned; so what she needed was something else. She needed precision and speed to counteract his 'gentle fist' and strength to withstand all of his attacks.

Kakashi was fierce and forceful, and he never relented in training her. The day before the exam was to begin, Kakashi told her to sit in front of him in lotus position.

"So I gathered that you had a surprise in the second exam, didn't you?" – He asked straight forward.

"Yeah. Shikamaru and Harumi hid the mission's objective from me."

"I asked them to." – He said.

"Why?!" – She exclaimed furious.

"You're letting your anger towards Uchiha Sasuke cloud your judgment. Harumi wanted to give Uchiha Sasuke the chance to forfeit on his own choice. Shikamaru said it'd be best if they just ordered him to, but Harumi thought it'd be best if he chose to do it for the good of his team instead of being ordered to and she was right. If you'd been told of the mission objective from the start, you would have made things much worse." – He explained patiently.

She frowned as she realized her sensei was right. Shikamaru had presented enough hostility towards the boy in question to make Sasuke uneasy of his skills, but Harumi's option of giving him the choice of what to do: retreat or go forth was much better than an order. Much of what a chunnin had to do was that: decide if his team was ready for battle or not.

"Ok. I get it. But even so, they shouldn't have hidden things from me." – She said looking mulish in her objection.

"Hinata. You know that after the chunnin exams of which you three will advance – of this I'm 100% sure – you won't be able to see Harumi as much as you'd like or Shikamaru for that matter. Both will be busy in their own fields of ANBU, and you as well. Why did you think I told you both to reason your over-protective nature towards Harumi?"

"I thought you told us that because we'd be too dependent on her. We aren't."

"But you are. Harumi will ascend to the clan council as the head of her clan the day she turns fifteen. As of today, the Namikaze clan holds 50 members."

"Fifty?! Where did they all come from?!" – She asked astounded.

"Two of those members are shinobi. One of them is that young man that we rescued from Wave Country. And the other is an emancipated genin by the name of Haruno Sakura. She asked to be part of the Namikaze clan. The rest are kids from various ages from the orphanage. From those orphans, a 25% has no interest in becoming ninja. The other 75% is being inducted into the Ninja Academy to learn to become ninja. And did you know that there are at least another fifty orphans from the other villages in Fire Country awaiting their turn to become part of a clan?"

Hinata was perplexed. Harumi had never told her any of this. Did Shikamaru know?

"And Shikamaru knows, how else would she have founded this system with the approval of the Hokage?" – He said with an eye-smile.

"Why wasn't I told of this?" – She asked concerned that she had been dejected. That Shikamaru was giving it all to get Harumi all to himself.

"Well… as far as I'm concerned you should know that you've been closing yourself off from Harumi for a long long time."

Hinata pondered about this and realized that Kakashi-sensei was right. She _had_ been waiting for Harumi to come to her, when in turn she hadn't offered anything in return! She was a little saddened at the fact. She was going to have to think about a lot in her free time.

Kakashi was glad that he had gotten through with the girl in front of him. He just feared what her reaction would be when she found out that Harumi was leaving on a training spree with Jiraiya of the Sannin after the Chunnin Exams were finished through.


End file.
